Would-be burglar, 50, avoids heavy stuff, police say

Judy Washington smashed window of Delray Beach house, say cops

Judy Washington, 50, of Delray Beach, tried to break into a house on Aug.… (Palm Beach County Sheriff's…)

August 9, 2013|By Brett Clarkson, Sun Sentinel

Judy Washington has to take it easy when she breaks into houses, police said.

The 50-year-old Delray Beach woman allegedly told cops that she was planning to bust into a house in the 300 block of Southwest First Avenue by smashing a back window with a rock.

But Washington told officers she had to be conscious of the fact she's not as spry as her younger criminal contemporaries.

"The defendant stated her intentions were to enter the house and steal light items as her medical condition would not allow her to steal heavy ones," a Delray Beach police officer wrote in the arrest report.

Thankfully for the homeowner, Washington didn't actually manage to get her hands on anything.

Nonetheless, she'll be spending some time in a familiar setting — jail.

Since 1981, Washington has been incarcerated six times, spending just more than 10 years in total behind bars – or about one-fifth of her life, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.

She has 18 arrests since 1981, Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show. Nine of those cases involved burglary charges.

Police were alerted to Wednesday's alleged break-in attempt just before noon, when a witness called police about a woman trying to break a window at the back of his neighbor's house.

According to the report, the witness saw the woman "pounding on a window with a cinder block."

A be-on-the-lookout alert was put out, and officers set up a two-block perimeter.

At the scene, officers found Washington sitting beside the house. The witness recognized her as the suspect.

Washington told cops she dragged a cinder block from somewhere else on the property and positioned it right under the window, the arrest report said.

She then found a large rock near the patio chairs in the back yard of the house.

Standing on the cinder block, she would ram the rock against the window, getting off and on the block to check to see if anybody was watching.

Washington managed to smash the window but was interrupted by police before she could make her way into the house, police said.

In her conversation with cops, Washington said she was desperate and wanted to steal jewelry that she would then sell on the street for cash, according to the arrest report.

Washington was arrested and faces one count of burglary.

She was booked in at the Palm Beach County Jail, where she remained Thursday in lieu of a $7,500 bond, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office booking blotter.